"Because You Left" is the premiere episode of Season 5 of Lost and the eighty-seventh produced hour of the series as a whole. It was originally broadcast on January 21, 2009, and was followed immediately by "The Lie". Jack and Ben attempt to assemble the Oceanic Six for a return to the Island while the survivors left behind on the island begin experiencing strange time shifts after the Island's move.

On the Island

1977

At 8:15 AM, a man hits the snooze button on his alarm clock. Next to him, an Asian woman hears a baby making noise from a crib in the other room and tells the man it's his turn to take care of the child. After putting on a record, he gives the baby a heated bottle of milk before getting ready for the day. When the record starts skipping, he turns the player off. ♪

The man walks to one of the other buildings in the Barracks, where a camera crew has set up to record the first take of the second DHARMA Initiativeorientation film. He is revealed to be Dr. Pierre Chang. As the filming begins, Pierre identifies himself as Dr. Marvin Candle and begins to describe the Arrow's primary purpose, indicating that it involves protecting the DHARMA Initiative from the Island's hostile and indigenous inhabitants. Suddenly, Pierre is interrupted by a concerned worker named Eric, who barges into the room and says that there is a problem at the Orchid.

Eric drives Dr. Chang to the Orchid in a DHARMA Initiative van, and they make their way past the construction workers and down in an elevator. ♪ Pierre puts on a hard hat and walks out into the subterranean station, which appears to be under construction. A foreman tells him that in the process of tunneling through a certain spot according to Dr. Chang's plans, six carbon drill bits have melted and a drill operator has been incapacitated. He shows Pierre the seemingly impenetrable rock wall while the drill operator lies on the ground nearby with a nosebleed. The foreman shows Chang a SONAR-image printout of the wall. It reveals the outline of the frozen wheel in an open chamber 20 meters behind the wall.

As the foreman begins to outline his plan to blow through the rock and expose the inner chamber, Dr. Chang emphatically forbids the foreman to set explosives in the area for any reason whatsoever. He believes there is an incredible amount of power on the other side that will allow them to manipulate time. When the foreman asks incredulously if they will be able to travel to the past and assassinate Hitler, Pierre tells him not to be absurd, saying that there are rules which cannot be broken. Dr. Chang orders the foreman not to drill any more because doing so might allow the energy to escape, with potentially catastrophic results. Chang bumps into a worker as he leaves. The worker apologizes, and when he looks up, he is revealed to be Daniel Faraday, wearing a DHARMA Initiative jumpsuit with the name tag "Joe" on it.

Between 2001 and 2004

Immediately after Ben turns the frozen wheel, a loud noise is heard and a flash lights up the sky above all the survivors who are still on the island. ♪ As the light dissipates, Locke realizes that it is suddenly raining, and Richard and the Others, along with their entire campsite, have vanished. Confused and alone, he shouts for anyone in earshot. On the Zodiac, Neil asks what the light was. Daniel, noting that they can still see the island, says that the raft "must have been inside the radius."

On the beach, Juliet and Sawyer realize that the smoke from the freighter has vanished, leaving nothing behind. Sawyer tells Juliet that the helicopter was heading for the freighter. ♪Bernard suddenly runs onto the beach yelling for Rose. He asks Juliet if shes seen her. She tells him she hasn't just as Rose comes running from the church, which she explains to Bernard when she reunites with him. ♪ Sawyer tries to calm them down, suggesting that they head back to the beach camp, but Bernard exclaims that the camp is gone. They walk with Bernard back to where the camp used to be. People are milling around, but there is no camp. Bernard explains that all of the tents are gone, along with the kitchen and all of their crucial supplies.

Just then, Daniel arrives with the other survivors from the Zodiac, insisting that the camp is not gone. Charlotte embraces him in relief at his safe return. Dan asks Juliet to quickly take him to something manmade on the Island. Juliet tells him that there is a DHARMA station - albeit one that imploded - 15 minutes from the camp. Daniel is prepared to leave immediately, before the flash of light has a chance to happen again. When Sawyer prods him about his statement about the camp, he replies "Your camp isn't gone. It hasn't been built yet."

As Sawyer, Juliet, Daniel, Charlotte and Miles head toward the Swan, Sawyer demands that Faraday explain what is happening. Dan compares the Island to a record that is skipping. The Island is now "dislodged" in time, and either the Island or the survivors are now moving through time. Sounding concerned, he asks if the survivors' group is all accounted for. Sawyer says no, realizing that Locke is unaccounted for (Claire is missing as well, though no one mentions her).

Meanwhile, while climbing a hill, Locke narrowly misses being struck by a damaged, low-flying plane, which then crashes in the jungle. Finding a Virgin Mary statue that had fallen from the plane, he realizes that the plane is the Beechcraft that he and Boone later found in the jungle. ♪ Locke arrives at the crash site and tries to climb up the cliff to the plane, shouting for survivors, but he is cut short by gunfire from the jungle below. One of the bullets hits him in the leg and he falls to the ground, stunned. The shooter runs out of the jungle and reveals himself to be Ethan. Assuming that Locke was on the plane, he demands to know how many others were onboard. Locke tries to explain who he is, that he wasn't on the plane, that he knows who Ethan is, and that he was appointed by Ben as the leader of the Others. Ethan simply says that this is ridiculous and prepares to shoot him. Suddenly the white light appears again, though Ethan does not appear to notice it, and for Locke the day suddenly turns to night.

Locke sees that the Beechcraft is now decaying on the ground, where it fell when Boone climbed inside. ♪ Elsewhere, the group arrives at the Swan, ♪ which is still a crater in the ground, prompting them to conclude that they're back in what should be the present. Sawyer argues that they could change the past by stopping Jack and the others from launching the helicopter, which they believe crashed in the ocean. Faraday, however, is adamant that the past is like a street - one can move back and forth along it, but not change it.

As Locke lies barely able to move, Richard arrives holding a torch and a first-aid kit. Richard removes the bullet from Locke's leg, explaining that he (Locke) told him where to come - or rather will tell him. Richard gives John a compass that he must give back to Richard the next time he sees him, saying "I won't recognize you." He also tells John that the only way to save the Island is to get those who left to come back, and in order to do that, he will have to die. ♪

Between 2001 and 2004

Another flash occurs and the hiking group realizes that the crater has disappeared. Juliet uncovers the hatch in the ground, now intact, as Locke and Boone originally discovered it. ♪ The group quickly moves to the rear entrance and Sawyer repeatedly knocks on the door, but nobody responds. ♪ Faraday reiterates that Sawyer won't be able to meet Desmond because Desmond didn't remember meeting him in the past, and that he can't change whatever happened in the past. Frustrated, Sawyer reminds Daniel that he just lost all of his friends on the helicopter and not to tell him about things he can't change. ♪♪ After everyone else leaves for the beach, however, Faraday goes back and knocks on the Swan door himself. ♪ Desmond opens the door, armed and wearing a HAZMAT suit. Faraday tells Desmond that he is uniquely special, and that only he can help them because "the rules" don't apply to him. Daniel instructs a confused Desmond to seek out his mother in Oxford if he escapes the Island. As he is about to say his mother's name, another flash occurs, once more causing a timeshift. Unlike Ethan and Richard when they were talking to Locke, Desmond appears to have been able to see and hear the flash.

Off the Island

Inside the Hoffs/Drawlar Funeral Parlor where "Jeremy Bentham's" funeral was held, Ben asks Jack to close Locke's casket so that they can put it in the van out back. Jack inquires as to where they are going to take John, but Ben tells him that they must first pick up Hurley. Jack informs Ben that Hurley is in the Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute. Jack wonders aloud how they could have all become so estranged, and Ben responds coldly, "It happened because you left, Jack." ♪

Later, Jack shaves his beard off in a hotel room. Ben says that they'll need to recruit all the others, though Jack has doubts. Ben reveals that he has not seen Locke since the day the Six left. ♪ Jack mentions that Locke told him he had to return, otherwise everyone back on the island would die. ♪ Ben asks Jack if Locke told him what happened to those they left behind, but the answer is no. Ben simply remarks "then I guess we'll never know." ♪

In Los Angeles, Kate is visited by Dan Norton, an attorney working for an unknown client. Norton claims to have a court order to conduct a blood test to determine if Aaron is actually Kate's child. Kate refuses to allow the test and tells Norton to leave, which he does, saying that he will be back with a sheriff. Kate frantically packs a bag, grabbing an envelope of cash and a gun. She tells Aaron that they are going "on vacation" before picking him up and leaving. ♪

At Heathrow Airport in London, Sun attempts to fly to Los Angeles via Oceanic Airlines, but finds herself locked in a room by airport security. Charles Widmore reveals himself as her captor, saying that he is angry that she had the "audacity" to approach him without showing "respect" in London, but he still wishes to talk about their "common interests." When asked what exactly those interests are, Sun replies, "to kill Benjamin Linus."

In their hotel room, Ben and Jack see a television news report about Hurley's escape from Santa Rosa after apparently murdering a man. Ben realizes that their plan has just become more complicated.

Meanwhile, Hurley and Sayid stop at a fast food restaurant before going to the safe house, which is in an apartment building. Hurley asks Sayid about the man Sayid killed outside Santa Rosa. Sayid doesn't know who the man was, but said that he was an enemy. When Hurley comments on Sayid's paranoia, Sayid reveals that he has been working for Ben Linus and cautions Hurley that, if Linus ever tells him to do anything, he should do the exact opposite.

Sayid notices that a piece of tape that he'd placed on the door to the room has been broken, indicating that someone has entered the safe house. One man attacks Sayid at the door, and Sayid quickly kills him by throwing him over the balcony. Another man attacks him inside; Sayid kills him too, but not before he is shot with an anesthetizing dart, which renders him unconscious a moment later. A passerby notices the dead body of the first man, and takes a picture of Hurley with a gun in his hand and covered in what appears to be blood, but is actually ketchup. Hurley runs inside, rescues Sayid, and the two escape.

Finally, on a sailing boat with Penny in an unknown location, Desmond wakes up, remembering what Faraday told him. While Penny brushes off the experience as a bad dream, Desmond insists that it was a real memory. He sets off for Oxford to find Daniel's mother. ♪

Trivia

A green ceramic alien head is visible under the stereo on the shelf as Pierre Chang walks into the Barracks recreation room and films the orientation film for the Arrow.

The Arrow filming includes workers sporting the main DHARMA logo: Fern ("crew"), Jay ("worker"), and presumably Kyker (the director named on the clapper board, a likely reference to Lost property master, Rob Kyker who also played Jacob for a time). They are interrupted by Eric ("construction") and meet Tony ("construction") and Faraday, dressed as Joe ("construction").

Penelope and Desmond are both seen wearing wedding rings in the final scenes, indicating that they marry after being reunited.

When Desmond and Daniel are talking, and the flash is just about to happen, Desmond seems to notice the noise and bright sky right before the time shift. The other non-Survivors this episode, Ethan and Richard, didn't seem to notice anything. Desmond most likely can see/hear the flash because he is "special."

The scene from the opening of the episode was seen from a different perspective in "The Variable".

The scene of Richard treating Locke's wound was seen from a different perspective in "Follow the Leader".

The clock in the airport security holding room reads 9:22 pm, which is the date of the Oceanic 815 crash — 9/22.

This episode is rated TV-14-LV.

Production notes

There is a new shot shown in the recap at the beginning of this episode that features an overhead view of the US Coast Guard plane as the Oceanic Six are greeted by their family members. That shot was not featured in any aired or otherwise officially released version of "There's No Place Like Home, Part 1". It was, however, also featured in the "Lost: Destiny Calls" clip show that preceded this episode.

This episode marks the first time Pierre Chang appears outside a DHARMA video on the show.

According to the audio commentary, the scene where Daniel explains the Island skipping like a record was originally going to take place much later in the episode. The scene was re-shot and added earlier in the episode at a later date. This was because the producers felt the viewers would be less confused when given an explanation earlier in the episode.

In the "Building 23 & Beyond with Michael Emerson" featurette on the season 5 DVD, a writer's board notes this episode as Jack and Locke centric.

Bloopers and continuity errors

Adobe Photoshop is used as document scanning software.

When the alarm clock goes off in the opening scene, the alarm itself isn't actually set. The alarm is set on the left-side of the clock and is set to 12:00.

When Chang films the Arrow Orientation Video, he is wearing a lab coat with the Swan logo. This is inconsistent with the other videos, in which he wears a lab coat with the logo of the station for which he is shooting the video.

When Locke witnesses the Beechcraft crash, the view of the Island behind him is far larger than anything confirmed by Danielle's maps, survivor dialogue about Island distances or DHARMA knowledge.

Adobe Photoshop CS2 in Windows XP is shown as being document scanning software.

The network connection icons in the lower right corner of the display indicate that the computer is connected to neither a WLAN or LAN connection.

There are many inconsistencies between the human-readable information and the machine-readable zone of the passport:[2]

SKA is not a valid ISO code; it should have been KOR.

Her birthday is encoded as April 4, 1972.

Her nationality is encoded as Japan.

Her passport expiry is encoded as May 31, 2006, although the human-readable part shows 2011.

The computer's time display does not match the time seen on a wall clock a few seconds later.

The passport was issued in 2001; it is extremely unlikely that Sun managed to keep her original passport throughout her time on the island.

When the witness takes a picture of Hurley with the gun, the man Sayid threw over the railing is shown in a different position than the one in which he landed.

Desmond opens the Swan door to answer Daniel's knocking wearing the HAZMAT suit. However, Kelvin never let him out of the hatch. Desmond knew he did not have to wear anything when following Kelvin in "Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1."

Desmond is lowering the anchor into the water during the final scene instead of raising it.

In the footage of the waiting family members in "There's No Place Like Home, Part 1," the family members were shown gathered at the back of the C-130; in the long shot in this episode, they were lined up along the side of the fuselage.

In order to save everybody on the Island, Locke will presumably have to die, according to Richard. (Sacrifice)

The name of the law firm hired to get blood samples from Kate and Aaron in order to find out if Aaron really is Kate's son, is "Agostini and Norton" - an anagram for "Aaron isn't, don't go in." (Anagrams)

Pierre Chang says DHARMA has plans to harness the Island's energy in order to manipulate time. (Electromagnetism)

Hitler: One of the DHARMA construction workers proposes to use the time effects of the Orchid to kill Hitler. Adolf Hitler was the leader of the German Nazi Party. He was the ruler of Germany from 1933 to 1945. (Ideologies) (History)

A Christmas Carol: Sawyer calls himself the "Ghost of Christmas Future," a reference to one of the spirits who visits Ebenezer Scrooge in this book by Charles Dickens. Published in 1843, A Christmas Carol is considered by some to be the first depiction of time travel in a novel. (Literary works)

Gilligan's Island: Sawyer calls Charlotte "Ginger" after he slaps Daniel Faraday. Ginger is a reference to ginger-haired Ginger Grant, a character on Gilligan's Island, a classic U.S. television show about a group of people that were stranded on a tropical island. The character had a bit of an attitude (like Charlotte) and hung out with a brainy professor (like Faraday). (Movies and TV)

Dilbert: Sawyer calls Daniel Faraday "Dilbert" when Faraday tries to convince him of the futility of his plan to enter the Swan station through the "back door" to stock up on supplies. Dilbert is the main character of an American comic strip written and drawn by Scott Adams who, like Faraday, is consummately dressed in a white shirt with a black tie. (Literary works)

Futurama: Daniel gives the analogy of the time skips being like a record player skipping. In the episode "Time Keeps on Slipping" from this animated sci-fi sitcom, Professor Farnsworth gives the same analogy for a similar event. Both men are scientists who are considered crazy. (Movies and TV)

"Danny Boy": While questioning why Faraday knows so much about everything that is going on, Sawyer calls Faraday "Danny Boy," a reference to this Irish ballad. This song is often sung at funerals and is considered to be an unofficial Irish song. In the episode "Three Minutes", Sawyer had a brief conversation with Jack about taking "the Irish drink" after someone dies, even though neither men are Irish. (Music)

The episode begins with a record skipping, which is later used as a metaphor by Daniel for how the Island is moving through time. (Foreshadowing)

The beginning of the episode is similar to the beginning of Seasons 2 and 3. In all of these episodes we're introduced to an unknown person we're not able to recognize at first. The person then turns on some music and begins to do some daily activities. Furthermore all of the season beginnings starts off slowly and calm, but is at some point interrupted by something chaotic, such as Jack running to the crash site in Season 1, the hatch door being dynamited in Season 2, Flight 815 crashing in Season 3, and Hurley blasting through the pile of fruits in Season 4. (Juxtaposition)

Faraday insists that they can't stop the time flashes, and Sawyer asks him who can; Faraday doesn't respond, but the scene immediately cuts to Locke. Locke later stops the time flashes by turning the frozen wheel in "LaFleur". (Foreshadowing)

Locke's fall from the tree and landing on his back parallels his fall from the hotel window. He lies there initially in fear that he is paralyzed again. This was also the same place that he partially lost the use of his legs again, after finding the plane for the first time. (Juxtaposition)

When Locke is separated from the Others, he is left in the jungle with nothing but a knife and his wits; literally the situation he longed for in "Walkabout". (Irony)

Aaron is watching a cartoon with several vehicles rushing frantically, foreshadowing Kate's running away quickly after being pressed by the attorney Dan Norton. (Foreshadowing)

The foreman expressed disbelief at the idea of time travel to Daniel, who agrees, covering the fact that he is actually a time traveler. (Irony)